Posts Tagged ‘yoshinoya’

Drink ’em if you got ’em: Counter area in a new Family Mart being built in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture

Ministop, the fifth largest convenience store chain in Japan with 2,200 outlets nationwide, was the first of its ilk to provide counters, tables and chairs for patrons who preferred to consume their purchases on the premises. Because of relatively lax tax laws in Japan, they could do it without having to charge more. This service was originally devised as a gimmick that would differentiate Ministop from other chains, and for years no other CS chain felt that it needed to do the same thing.

Last summer, Ministop, which belongs to the Aeon retail conglomerate, expanded on this idea with an offshoot called Cisca, an abbreviation for “city small cafe.” It’s basically a more attractively appointed convenient store centered around the sit-down space. So far, only one Cisca has opened, in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and according to Asahi Shimbun the target is women who work in the area. The selection is more limited than what you would find in a regular Ministop, with the focus on high quality deli items and beverages, including fresh coffee and alcoholic drinks.

The “eating corner” seats only 17, but what really distinguishes Cisca from other Ministops is that eating-in is encouraged with free use of utensils. You can buy a bottle of wine for ¥700, for instance, and drink it right there, because they will provide you with wine glasses. Each seat also has its own electrical outlet. According to Ministop’s publicity department, since the store opened it’s been almost continually full.

Cisca is part of a trend taking place in both the retail and restaurant trades toward a more practical and less expensive view of dining out. Half of the new outlets opened by CS giant Family Mart since the beginning of 2013 also have sit-down counters and tables.

July 22 is doyo no ushi no hi — “day of the ox.” It is not a holiday to mark the cultural contributions of bovine, but rather a reminder that there are 18 more days until a seasonal change, during which falls the day of the ox — one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac. Traditionally in Japan people eat grilled eel (unagi), on this day, because it is believed that eel strengthens physical stamina during the hottest days of summer. But this year foodies and purveyors of unagi are faced with a problem, since eel in the wild is becoming increasingly scarce and may soon end up on a list of endangered species. The fisheries agency reports that the amount of eel fry bought by wholesalers in Japan this year has averaged 25 percent less than last year.

Yield to eel: Banners promoting unadon outside Sukiya

So it was definitely surprising when Daiei, one of Japan’s major supermarket chains, announced on July 11 that it would be selling packaged unagi kabayaki (grilled eel) in its stores for 20 percent less than last summer’s price on July 13-15 and July 20-22. According to Asahi Shimbun the price of unagi fry is now as much as 6.5 times what it was in 2009.

In most retail outlets, the price of prepared grilled eel is 26 percent higher than it was last summer. Usually, unagi that goes on sale in July is bought by Daiei in bulk sometime after January of the same year. It is then processed and frozen by a contractor. However, anticipating the rise in prices Daiei bought its unagi last fall and asked its contractor to carry out processing and freezing “when it had the time to do so,” thus saving money. Also, Daiei usually buys unagi for lunch boxes and unagi for packaged sushi separately, but this year they bought unagi for both at the same time in bulk, saving even more money.

But the real reason they can charge less is because they want to. Daiei admits that it will lose money during these two three-day periods by selling unagi kabayaki for 20 percent less. The supermarket is using unagi as a loss leader, a means of getting customers into its stores, where they will buy other things. And it seems to be working. Daiei started accepting pre-orders last month. Another market chain, Seiyu, announced that despite increases in wholesale prices, it will sell domestic unagi kabayaki at the same price as last summer: ¥1,470 for 140 grams. Seiyu expects sales to be 10 percent higher than last year.

Restaurants, on the other hand, seem to have no choice but to raise prices, but the amount of increase depends on the type of eatery. Asahi says that Tokyo ryotei — upscale, reservation-only restaurants — have increased unagi dishes by about ¥400 since last year, and famous restaurants that specialize in unagi have raised prices by as much as ¥1,000 per dish.

However, chain restaurants are trying to keep the increase to a minimum. Many sushi chains that usually charge ¥100 per plate serve unaju (grilled eel over rice) in the summertime, though usually only for takeout. One of these chains, Kura Sushi, is advertising unadon (eel over rice in a bowl) for only ¥598. That’s pretty cheap compared to gyudon (beef bowl) chains, which also do good business with unadon in the summer. Sukiya, the biggest gyudon chain, is selling unadon for ¥780, while Yoshinoya has increased its eel bowl ¥30 since last summer to ¥680. In 2010 it was only ¥500. Both Sukiya and Yoshinoya buy their unagi from China, but insist that they supervise the raising and harvest themselves, without relying on middlemen, to ensure quality.

Good news for beef lovers. On April 10 gyudon (beef bowl) chain Yoshinoya announced it would cut the price of its standard namimori serving by ¥100 to ¥280 starting April 18. Sukiya, the No. 1 gyudon chain, was selling its namimori version for ¥250 until April 12, and No. 3 in the race, Matsuya, was doing the same thing until April 15.

At the press conference where Yoshinoya made the announcement, company president Shuji Abe told reporters that Yoshinoya felt it could not reach its desired sales target “with prices as they are,” and since “price is the biggest factor affecting sales,” they decided to cut it by more than a fourth. Though Yoshinoya’s two rivals are ending their own price-cut campaigns this week, they carry them out on a fairly regular basis, so it’s likely they will react in kind to the announcement.

In reporting the announcement, the Asahi Shimbun reporter remarked that, although consumers will certainly appreciate the lower price, how can Yoshinoya hope to make a profit after such a drastic cut? Moreover, what does the move say about the government’s strategy of boosting inflation? Yoshinoya’s Abe stressed that the business environment has become “even more difficult” owing to the decrease in the yen’s value, which makes importing beef more expensive. But he also said that the company will still be able to turn a profit because it plans to import even more beef and thus can expect cheaper wholesale prices now that the regulations with regard to beef imports have changed.

In 2004, imports were restricted due to the BSE scare, but those restrictions have now been lifted, and beef from older animals can be sold in Japan. In addition, Yoshinoya plans to cut its retail personnel by “making the work routine in restaurants more efficient.” So even if the prices for the main product drop by 25 percent, according to company projections based on past experience the number of customers should increase by 30 percent, and if that happens sales will increase 15 to 20 percent.

A food industry analyst pointed out something else to the Asahi: Fast food in general has become cheaper in the past 10 years or so, and consumers have just become accustomed to the fact. There seems to be an upper limit to what they will pay, and chain businesses know this. What that means is that these businesses will fall into a permanent state of price competition, even as the cost of ingredients goes up. That means personnel costs will not rise; if anything they’ll have to be cut. And restaurants that don’t belong to chains will be squeezed out. For a while Yoshinoya tried to compete in terms of quality and selection by adding new products to their line, but obviously they’ve abandoned that strategy and returned to price competition.

This is not the kind of outcome the government wants, but consumers have become so used to lower prices they probably won’t spend more except for basic necessities, and the retailers who can keep their prices down will make profits through volume. Much has been made in the media of how department stores are suddenly enjoying better sales, but their customers tend to be people with larger amounts of discretionary income through investments in stocks and foreign currencies, both of which are going up. Such people spend their windfalls on expensive watches. They are not representative of the general public, much of which still decide their spending regimens based on wages and salaries, and despite the government’s hopes and efforts those aren’t likely to rise any time soon.

Japan has become a nation of coupon clippers and bargain hunters. It’s a hard habit to break.

Earlier this month a panel of experts recommended to the health ministry that it relax standards restricting imports of beef from the United States, Canada, France and the Netherlands for animals that are more than 20 months old. The panel suggests that cattle up to 30 months old be allowed for import and sale in Japan.

Get it while it’s cheap: Yoshinoya outlet in Roppongi, Tokyo

The restrictions were implemented in 2005 after BSE, or “mad cow disease,” was discovered in some livestock in the U.S. in 2003. Between 2003 and 2005 beef imports from the U.S. were banned. When the restriction went into effect, the U.S. objected, saying there was no conclusive proof that the age of the animal has anything to do with whether or not it can get BSE, and in any case, the incidence of the disease was extremely small and statistically insignificant. The government panel seems to have agreed with this opinion by saying that the age of the cow has no relationship “to people’s health.” They will give their official evaluation to the health ministry some time this fall, and the regulations should be relaxed by early next year.

Retailers and restaurateurs, especially fast food chains, are happy with the panel’s decision since it means they can start selling more U.S. beef, which is very popular among consumers here because of its higher fat content. More than 60 percent of the beef sold in supermarkets now is Australian, with 20 percent coming from the U.S. and the remainder from domestic producers. Though the American dollar is, for the moment at least, worth less in Japan than the Australian dollar, U.S. beef is more expensive than Australian beef due to the restrictions. In fact, the high yen is the only reason U.S. beef is at all affordable in Japan right now. By limiting U.S. beef to animals less than 21 months old, imports are seasonal and thus more expensive. Only about 20 percent of all cattle in the U.S. is slaughtered at less than 21 months, while 90 percent is less than 31 months. Consequently, almost all the animals slaughtered in the U.S. can be exported to Japan after the new year.

Last month, many news outlets reported an attempted robbery of the Asaka, Saitama Prefecture branch of the gyudon (beef bowl) chain Sukiya. Though such crimes are still rare in Japan when compared to other countries, this one received a lot of attention because of what the stickup man said as he brandished a knife at the counter person: “Maido onajimi no Sukiya . . . ,” which basically means he comes to Sukiya often, though it isn’t entirely clear if he meant as a customer or as a thief.

Sukiya is the number one gyudon chain in Japan, owing mainly to the fact that it’s got the most branches: about 1,500 nationwide. The next biggest chain, Yoshinoya, operates about 1,200, with Matsuya a distant third with 800. But if Sukiya has an edge over Yoshinoya in terms of sales, in terms of robberies it’s miles ahead. According to the National Police Agency, between January and August, Sukiya branches were the victims of 90 percent of the robberies perpetrated against gyudon restaurants. That’s an impressive portion, though it should also be pointed out that, altogether, there were only 57 robberies of gyudon restaurants nationwide during this period. Robbery, as a matter of fact, has been on the decrease in recent years, though the targeting of gyudon restaurants has risen.

According to an article in the Tokyo Shimbun, there are a variety of reasons for the increase. The main one is that almost all robberies of commercial businesses take place late at night, and over the past decade most gyudon restaurant chains have extended their business hours and are now open round the clock. A lot of other 24-hour food service businesses use vending machines to collect money; and convenience stores, which are also open all the time, have less cash on the premises thanks to the widespread use of e-money, debit cards and prepaid cards. Two thieves who were caught in August after robbing a Sukiya in Tokyo of ¥200,000 told police they had gotten the idea from discussion groups on the Internet. Apparently, would-be robbers often trade intelligence on good places to hit, and because Sukiya is so well-known and there’s a branch on practically every corner, it’s seen as an easy target.

In any case, the Asaka thief wasn’t a particularly good one. The counter person, a part-timer, managed to hit the alarm button and the police captured the robber shortly after he left. Since most Sukiya branches already have alarm systems installed, the police have suggested they, pardon the pun, beef up their late-night staff, though that would obviously defeat the whole purpose of a chain like Sukiya, which charges rock-bottom prices. It’s why they’re number one, even if in surveys real gyudon fans much prefer Yoshinoya.

As the media so loudly pointed out, a large number of foreign residents left Japan right after the earthquake of March 11, mainly due to fears of radiation from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactor. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, most have returned, or, at least, those who worked in nominally white collar jobs did. For instance, about 40 percent of the foreign language teachers at Berlitz went home, and since then 90 percent have returned.

So that's why a bowl of beef is so cheap

The situation is much different when it comes to low-wage laborers, particularly those from China. The foreign trainee program has been badly hit. Many people believe that the program, which is supposed to offer people from foreign countries the opportunity to learn skills in Japan, is more or less a front for trafficking cheap labor, and the agricultural and textile industries are heavily dependent on workers from Asia. The Asahi Shimbun reports that before the earthquake there were about 40,000 foreign trainees working at Japanese textile companies, 99 percent of whom were Chinese. Almost all of them went home and very few have returned.

An association in Dalian that processes potential trainees for work in Japan told the Asahi that before the earthquake there were five applicants for every potential job opening, but now there are none. Another association that helps Chinese pass the test to be accepted in the trainee program said that all 50 people who passed a test to work at a marine products processing plant in Chiba Prefecture have now changed their mind and are staying in China. In almost all these cases the Chinese trainees are quite young, which means the decision to leave Japan or not go in the first place was made by their parents. Since China still has a one-child policy, a parent may not want to risk the health of his or her only child.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is presently in Japan to restart talks on beef imports, might be heartened by the gyudon (beef bowl) war going on in the fast food sector. All three of the big gyudon chains are fighting a bloody battle for market share. Yoshinoya has the most at stake. The food service company had projected a ¥1.3 billion loss for the last quarter that ended up being an ¥8.9 billion loss, the largest since the company went public in1990.

This week all three chains announced cheaper prices for their basic beef bowl (nami-mori). Matsuya reduced its product by ¥70 to ¥250, while Sukiya, the industry leader, cut its gyudon from ¥280 to ¥250.

The savings won’t last forever. Matsuya’s shinseikatsu oen (“new life” for new company employees) campaign will end April 23, while Sukiya’s is only until April 21. Yoshinoya’s is even shorter. It ends April 13.

On a related note, the sanuki udon (wheat noodle) chain Hanamaru, which has been discussed in this blog before, is also having a bargain campaign for regular “users.” Between April 7 and 16, outlets will be selling a limited number of teiki-ken (limited time passes) fashioned after public transportation passes. The passes cost ¥500 and are good until May 15. During the effective period, the pass will get you ¥105 off any udon dish in the store, which means you have to use it at least five times between now and May 15 to get your money’s worth.